Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 28 November 2018
103. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 220 of 16 October 2018, his views on whether there is a need for a body or authority when it comes to verifying the accuracy of information in textbooks available to schools as opposed to publishers having full autonomy in view of the recent corrections in history textbooks. [49460/18]
View answerTextbooks form part of a range of resources that are available to schools. The decision on which particular resources are most appropriate to be used in a school remains under the remit of the school itself.
Apart from a small number of prescribed texts at post-primary, determined by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), there are no requirements placed on a school by my Department to use any individual textbooks or resources. My Department does not generally approve, commission, sponsor or endorse educational textbooks or online materials and it would not be feasible to do so.
Textbooks are commissioned and published by educational publishers, and schools select their textbooks, if they choose to use them, from those available from a number of educational publishers.
I understand that the Irish Educational Publishers Association (IEPA) includes some 95% of the educational publishers in Ireland. The decision on the content of a particular textbook would rest entirely within the publishers themselves. The IEPA meet occasionally with the NCCA to discuss the content of the curriculum and to be made aware of any requirements in the curriculum.
The only requirement from my Department, on any resource used in a school, is that it covers the curriculum. Ultimately, the decision on which text, if any, most appropriately covers the curriculum, rests within the school itself.
Any issues regarding the accuracy of particular textbooks should be raised with the individual publishers.
